The Importance Digital Marketing Critical Thinking Skills

The Importance Digital Marketing Critical Thinking Skills

Recently I returned from the Midwest Direct Marketing Conference in St. Louis, where I participated in several panel discussions and sat in on some very enlightening presentations. For one of the panel discussions, I had dusted off and updated a presentation I had given many years ago to members of the Direct Marketing Association. The topic: The importance of digital marketing critical thinking skills. For me, this is a timely subject. It almost dominated a recent discussion I had with a new client looking for a senior operations leader. Now, you might think that actual skills and experience would dominate his list of “must-haves.” After all, that’s pretty much what you see at the top of all job descriptions. But to him, it all starts with the ability to think in a self-directed, self-disciplined and self-corrective manner. Without that, he pointed out, all of the skills and experience in the world won’t matter because the candidate’s thought process would clash with every other key decision maker in his company. This is actually the second chief executive to tell me in as many months that with their particular search, strong digital marketing critical thinking skills was priority one to ensure a good cultural fit (and to me, nothing matters more than fit). No surprise, when you think of the potentially disruptive role that digital marketing and ecommerce often plays within more traditional businesses.

I’ve actually been a student of digital marketing critical thinking skills for years. Maybe that’s because I’m always striving to become a better critical thinker myself, something that is especially propitious as a solo operator whose every decision directly impacts the business. It’s interesting: People just don’t talk about it very often. Few candidates ever bring it up, and I see it on resumes about as often as I speak with candidates who’ve received gold watches for 30 years of service. And yet, I can tell you that one of the reasons many of my best candidates reach the level of success they do is because of their excellence in thought.

The intellectual roots of critical thinking actually go back to the teachings of Socrates some 2,500 years ago. Essentially, Socrates questioned the practice of accepting ideas at face value, establishing the importance of thinking for clarity and logical consistency (my apologies to the Philosophy majors out there for this oversimplification). Referring back to my new client, these principles help define the very culture of his company, where this particular CEO encourages problem solving based on open-mindedness and mutual respect rather than vested interest and power. Indeed, it’s a corporate philosophy that looks attractive to candidates on paper, but as any business owner or leader knows, it’s not always easy to actualize.

For those who haven’t done much thinking lately about critical thinking, here is something to think critically about the next time you interview for any senior role. Great interviewers probe for critical thinking skills by looking for examples of your ability to:

-Formulate questions and problems, clearly, completely and precisely
-Gather relevant information and reach well-thought out conclusions that are based on evidence and facts.
-Think with an open mind and with alternative thought processes.
-Communicate effectively to figure out solutions to complex problems.

Think it’s too late in your career to become a better critical thinker? Think again. Believe it or not there are books and videos out there that teach this stuff to pre-Kindergartners. You’ll find thousands of resources on the web. One of my favorites is criticalthinking.org. Want your child to develop better critical thinking skills? Check out criticalthinking.com

When it comes to digital marketing critical thinking skills, there is no finish line- there are only degrees of critical thinking ability, so that means with practice, you can get really good at it. I told this to an audience of students and recent grads at the MDMC conference, and I tell the same thing to 25-year veterans: It doesn’t matter where you are on the career curve. Improving your digital marketing critical thinking skills is a sure fire way to boost your career.

Jerry Bernhart, Principal of Bernhart Associates Executive Search, LLC, is one of the nation’s preeminent and veteran executive recruiters in ecommerce, digital and multichannel marketing, and CRM. With 80 published LinkedIn articles, Jerry is the “voice” of best practices in the recruitment and hiring of ecommerce and digital marketing professionals. Jerry is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, “Careers in Ecommerce and Digital Marketing,” on Amazon, and participates in many leading digital marketing and ecommerce conferences. Jerry has been recruiting and placing marketing professionals for more than 28 years. Check out Jerry’s other insights on the Thought Leadership section of the Bernhart Associates website.

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Jerry Bernhart is founder and principal of Bernhart Associates Executive Search, LLC, a preeminent executive search firm specializing in multichannel direct marketing, digital marketing, ecommerce and CRM, serving clients ranging from start ups to Fortune 50. Jerry Bernhart is a recognized thought leader and widely followed LinkedIn writer and blogger on recruitment and talent development in these highly specialized marketing disciplines, and is author of the critically acclaimed "Careers in eCommerce and Digital Marketing," the first book of its kind on career preparation and present/future opportunities within the major specialties of ecommerce and digital marketing.
Jerry's writings and interviews on best practices in hiring and talent management appear throughout the web. He is a frequent presenter at leading online-marketing related conferences and webinars, and he is also a contributing author to MarketingProfs, Internet Retailer, Forrester, Loyalty360, DM News, AdAge, Multichannel Merchant, Target Marketing and many others. Jerry has placed more than 650 B2C and B2B marketers with clients of all sizes and across all major industries since 1990.
Jerry's blog features insights and fresh perspectives from one of the nation's top recruiters in digital, ecommerce and multichannel direct marketing.